Stitch Movement
The Stitch Movement, also commonly referred to as STITCH, is a youth volunteer group based in Sri Lanka that strives to 'stitch' together two communities: citizens who need help and those who want to help. STITCH has a registered volunteer count of over 300 but is run with an initial core team of 4 people, which has now grown to 8. Their tagline is 'sensitise|inspire|empower|mobilise'. They strive to inspire, sensitize, empower & mobilize youth to be agents of social transformation in their respective communities through activism and volunteerism in Sri Lanka. It is a not-for-profit and runs entirely on a volunteer basis. It has no political, religious, or racial ties or bias.[1]
History
Stitch Movement was founded in 2008 by Prabu Deepan and Prathibha Perera. It began with the 'Christmas with Love' project, where several orphanages and elders homes were visited during Christmas to sing carols, entertain the residents and distribute gifts. Up to date, STITCH continues to hold Christmas With Love but has increased greatly the number of orphanages and elders homes they reach each year.
Projects
While many of the projects are run in the Western Province, STITCH has island-wide projects and responded to needs in rural areas of Sri Lanka.
Connect.Engage.Change
In 2011, STITCH coordinated an island-wide art competition addressing the theme of 'unemployment'.[2] The top entries were held for display at an exhibition at the Lionel Wendt art gallery in Colombo.[3]
Flood Relief 2012
As a response to severe floods in the North-Western Province of Sri Lanka, STITCH responded by gathering water and dry ration donations from urban areas in Sri Lanka and distributing them to three heavily affected towns.[4]
Sole 4 Sole
Coordinating with a major Sri Lankan bank and shoe dealer, DSI, STITCH donated 358 pairs of shoes to school students in Valaichennai, Sri Lanka, a town that suffers heavily from rains, floods and landslides. The shoes were given to students who usually had to trek barefoot through mud and creeks to get to school.[5]
Sunday Times Column
STITCH runs the iChange-iVolunteer column published in the Mirror Magazine of the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. It is a 400-500 word column dedicated to encouraging community service, volunteerism and general social goodwill. STITCH posts these articles online and provides Tamil and Sinhala versions on their media site.[6]
Bare Your Sole
STITCH combined its efforts with Habitat for Humanity and held a march where volunteers marched barefoot to bring the public's attention to poverty, poor housing, lack of amenities that affect much of the Sri Lankan rurality. [7][8]
Kilinochchi
A rural school in Kilinochchi, a town ravaged by Sri Lanka's recent civil war, has received scholarship money and aid from the STITCH Movement, in collaboration with various donor institutions such as Nations Trust Bank and Visions Global Empowerment.[9]
References
- ↑ http://www.stitchmovement.com/about
- ↑ http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110612/Magazine/sundaytimesmirror_02.html
- ↑ http://print2.dailymirror.lk/life/132-life/52503.html
- ↑ http://www.stitchmovement.com/success-stories/flood-relief-2012-chillaw-2
- ↑ http://www.stitchmovement.com/success-stories/walking-a-mile-in-their-shoes-2
- ↑ For an example of such a column, see http://www.sundaytimes.lk/121007/magazine/give-back-a-smile-15252.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/121216/magazine/sharing-opportunities-24441.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/120401/Magazine/sundaytimesmirror_02.html
- ↑ http://www.demotix.com/news/465097/bare-your-sole-world-habitat-day#media-465069
- ↑ http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=8182
- ↑ http://www.stitchmovement.com/projects/help-our-kids-help-themselves http://visionsglobalempowerment.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Visions-ENewsletter15.pdf